


This Christmas....

by theangelsace



Category: Casualty (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Domestic, Episode Related, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 20:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5553953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theangelsace/pseuds/theangelsace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Dylan and Lofty spent their Christmas Eve together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Christmas....

**Author's Note:**

> Related to series 30, ep 16 'Home for Christmas"

It had been out politeness more than anything else, when Lofty had accepted Max’s offer to join them in the pub, really he planned to stay just long enough to exchange a few gifts before he left. Robyn of course insisted he have a glass of wine at least, being too ecstatic at the prospect of getting Christmas Day off to take no for an answer. He knew already of course that Jacob was her secret Santa, and thought it wouldn’t have been fair if he got the day off, especially as he just wasn’t in the Christmas spirit that year. It seemed cynical to think of it as just another year gone, but that’s how it appeared for the moment. What he had found surprising though, was Dylan noticing his lack of enthusiasm for the holidays.

“Well, I’ll be heading off now” he announced, he still had about half of the glass of wine left, but he really didn’t feel like having any more

“Oh, but the night is still young” Robyn pouted at him. As much as that worked normally, he wasn’t about to let the same be said for this evening.

“Some of us do have to work tomorrow” Lofty argued, going to grab his coat before one of the others could argue. “And if I am to be shouted at, thrown up on, and bled on tomorrow” he listed “Than I would like to be wide awake to remember it”

“Seems fair enough” Noel said, taking another swig of his beer. “A quiet evening at home before festival hell descends upon us tomorrow?” he asked

“Actually, I’m going round Dylan’s for the evening” Lofty answered, buttoning up his coat and flinging his bag over his shoulder, before bidding farewell to the small crowd that had gathered in the pub, ignoring the chorus of ‘oh’s’ coming from Robyn and Max as he left.

Christmas Eve, so of course the buses had stopped running by that time of the evening. He had briefly considered taking a taxi over to Dylan’s, but he lived over on the other side of town. Besides he doubted that he had enough money with him to be able to afford the fair. So, the only option left was for him to walk, and with the rain threatening to fall at any moment, he set off at a fairly brisk pace; finding that it was easier to keep his hood up if he kept his head down against the wind.

If truth be told, he was glad that Dylan had invited him over for Christmas evening. For the first few hours of their shift, he had been considering when exactly to give Dylan his gift, it was something he had been thinking about getting even before the draw for the Secret Santa, and still did despite the fact that he had got Ethan, for who he had ended up getting a novelty stethoscope; one which changed colour, as well as being able to play music. It had been with the help of Max that he’d been able to put a couple of Ethan’s favourite songs onto it, or they were according to Cal at least.

“Great, just great” he said to himself, as he was splashed by a passing car, managing to soak him completely. He had already noted the rain which had begun to fall several moments before, but had obviously been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to have noticed the large puddles by the side of the road which had grown throughout the day. Oh well, chances were he was going to be soaked through by the time he got to Dylan’s anyhow, so that happening a little earlier than expected was nothing to be too concerned with.

By the time he reached Dylan’s though, he had begun shivering, thankfully Dylan was already standing by the open door, ushering him inside rather than having him standing out in the rain a second longer.

“Thank you” he said, stepping inside and shrugging off his coat. He couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about dripping water all over the place “I’m freezing”

“Yes, I’ll bet” Dylan commented, taking a good, long look at him “Come on, I’ve already set everything up, and you are going and taking a hot shower” he announced “No arguments” he added, pointing a finger at Lofty, as if he was going to refuse such an offer. Dervla had already come along to see what all the noise was about, and Lofty spent a couple of moments paying attention to her before Dylan managed to persuade him over to the bathroom. “There’ll be clean, dry clothes just outside the door when you’re finished” Dylan said

“Oh, I don’t want to be too much of a bother” Lofty said, really what Dylan was doing for him this evening was far more than he expected.

“A bother” Dylan asked confused “No, no it’s no trouble at all” he said “And besides I don’t need you getting ill before tomorrow”. Lofty didn’t argue with that, what with tomorrow being Christmas day, and the pair of them working, he’d already seen to it that they would be dealing with the ebb and flow of the day together.  
“Alright, thank you” he accepted, after that Dylan quickly showed Lofty where everything was, and left him to his own devices.

*******************************

Somehow it didn’t seem as strange as he had expected for someone else to be using his shower. Or perhaps it was something to do with the fact that it was Lofty in there, rather than anyone else. He was half hoping that they would walk back together at the end of their shift, but Lofty caught him in the staff room and said something about having to go into the pub for a few minutes, and he’d see Dylan back at the boat. Of course, he hid is disappointment, not wanting to be the one to keep Lofty from his friends, he said he wouldn’t be too long anyhow. In the end, he had made it inside with seconds to spare before the rain started, though of course Lofty would be the one to get caught in it.

A few months ago, he wouldn’t have waited by the front door watching out for Lofty, he probably wouldn’t have even thought to invite him round. The first time, with the soufflé had been an accident, he’d only said it in jest, never expecting for Lofty to take up the offer. That evening had been a lot of fun, however, even if the soufflés were completely ruined. After that there had been the occasional movie night, and that one time when Lofty showed up on his doorstep with monopoly and insisted that they play.

“That chair’s new” Lofty pointed out as he walked in, his hair still a little damp, and he was dressed in the clothes that Dylan had put out for him, and he wouldn’t have been all that upset if Lofty asked if he could keep that red jumper. Dervla, of course greeted Lofty the second he had walked in the room, and Dylan’s attempts to separate the pair of them had taken a few minutes.

“Yeah” Dylan replied, standing just behind Lofty, wandering if placing his hands on Lofty’s shoulders would be a welcome gesture, or not. Deciding better of it, for the moment,

he said “I just thought if you’re going to be coming round, then you’ll need a place to sit.”

Lofty turned to look at him at that point, his eyes wide “You went and bought me my own chair, for your boat?” he asked.

“Well, yeah” Dylan answered “Of course, I did, it’s you, and I want you to feel welcome here” he said

At that Lofty closed the couple of steps between the two of them “Thank you” he said, right before he kissed Dylan’s cheek. Lofty of course, was smiling like crazy as he stepped, away and Dylan touched the part of his cheek that had been kissed. It was such a sweet, unexpected gesture that he was almost sure that he had imagined it.

“You’re welcome” he replied, once he’d been able to compose himself fully. Lofty had of course already gone and sat down, putting his feet up on the footstool and looking thoroughly relaxed. “Would you like dinner, I’m making spaghetti bolognaise” Dylan offered, something which he knew was one of Lofty’s favourites. And it didn’t come as all that much of a surprise, when Lofty instantly got out of his seat at that, and started offering to help. “No, no” Dylan began to say holding his hands up in front of him. “You just sit in here, and relax. Besides, you can keep Dervla company whilst I’m cooking - she has a habit of trying to be helpful, and whenever that happens, she ends up having most of mine” he finished, giving Dervla a look of derision in the process.

“OK” Lofty agreed, sitting back down again, instantly inviting Dervla to sit up on his lap, and Dylan was forced to admit, they did look rather cute together.

He left the two of them to it, at that point; though he could still hear Lofty talking to Dervla from the kitchen in any case. Mostly he talked about their day in the ED as well as a few other little things. Dylan stopped concentrating on the food for a few moments once Lofty began talking about being invited over for Christmas Eve, and by the way he spoke Dylan was glad that he had invited Lofty round. Seeing him during their shift earlier, had been a bit of shock, if he was honest. If anything he had gone into work, expecting for Lofty to be the one to try and get him into the Christmas spirit. The fact that it was the other way around came as a surprise to both of them.

For once, he wasn’t making the sauce from scratching, wanting to keep things as quick and easy as possible, he doubted that Lofty would mind either way in any case. He could have just ordered the two of them a pizza, and Lofty would have been happy. It had been somewhat of a shock when he had seen Lofty without a smile on his face earlier, usually the guy was so happy, that in a way it always managed to make Dylan’s day a little better as well.

“Hey, how’s it coming?” Lofty asked, from the doorway interrupting his train of thought at that point.

“Oh, um OK” Dylan replied, giving the sauce a quick stir, he’d been adding a few extra herbs to give it a little bit more flavour. “Just waiting for the spaghetti to finish really”

“Brilliant” Lofty said, leaning against the counter, his arms folded across his chest, something which he often did when he was in Dylan’s kitchen, and every time, he couldn’t help but to think how good it felt when he was there “Dervla’s asleep by the way” he added, gesturing his head out of the door.

“OK” he acknowledged. Usually he didn’t like it when people watching as he cooked, but again with Lofty it was different. “Would you get the plates out, please” he asked. There wasn’t any need to show Lofty where anything was, he already knew exactly where everything was kept.

“Sure thing” Lofty replied. As soon as he had done that Dylan began serving up the food “You know, there’s every chance this jumper’s going to end up covered in food right?” he asked, grabbing the bottle of red wine and the couple of glasses that Dylan had gotten out earlier.

“I thought that was certain” Dylan replied with a lopsided grin, Lofty shaking his head at him, for that, but he was still smiling, so that was something. “Come on, let’s go eat” he said.

**************************************************

It was somewhat surprising that Dylan’s Christmas Eve tradition was to listen to A Christmas Carol, a story which Lofty himself had always loved. The fact though, that Dylan never listened to the end was somewhat disappointing, he realised of course that it wasn’t at all like things in real life, but it was a nice ending nonetheless. And besides, the look on Dylan’s face when he had, put it back on, again and tapped his hand with the pen was worth it.

It had been a little under half an hour since the tape had finished playing, and neither of them had really spoken since, other than Lofty thanking Dylan again for inviting him over, as well as for the meal. Lofty looked over at Dylan again, that ridiculous yellow shirt almost causing him to burst out in a fit of giggles anytime that he did.

“Well come on then” Dylan said, seemingly out of nowhere, setting his glass of sherry down on the coffee table.

“Yeah you’re right” Lofty replied, through a stifled yawn “I should probably be going”

“I was talking to Dervla” Dylan said “I need to take her for her evening walk”

“Oh” he replied “But I’ve much over stayed my welcome” he added, getting up out of his chair.

“Lofty, if you think I’m letting you walk all the way back to your flat, in this weather, at this time of night, then you my dear….” Dylan froze at that point, the realisation of what he had just said dawning upon him. At the mention of the word ‘walk’, Dervla had gone to stand in between the two of them, looking expectedly at Dylan, as he and Lofty stared at one another. “I better…” he began gesturing at Dervla.

“Yeah, of course” Lofty agreed “I’ll see you in a bit” he added, as Dylan quickly grabbed his and Dervla’s coats, as well as her lead and headed out. He assumed this meant that he was staying the night, and in a way he was glad, not just because it meant him not having to go back out in that awful weather, which they had been able to hear throughout the evening, but it also meant getting to spend a little more time with Dylan, the man who had just inadvertently referred to him as ‘my dear’.

He doubted that there were all that many people that Dylan would leave unattended on his houseboat, and Lofty was thankful to be one of the trusted few. It did, however, leave him wandering what he should do with himself; briefly he considered just sitting in his seat, not wanting to risk appearing over familiar when Dylan got back or breaking something. Eventually, however, he decided on washing up the things from dinner, just as his way of saying thank you.

Usually he would have his earphones in when he was doing the washing up, but he had left those at home, so instead he settled on letting his mind wander as he worked. Mostly, he thought of Dylan and how much he had come to mean to him over the past couple of months. And that reminded him of the present he had meant to give him, when he first got there, but having been soaked through had completely forgotten about up until that point. It wasn’t much really, just a couple of tickets to a play that Dylan had once told him was his favourite.

“Oh, Lofty you didn’t have to…” Dylan began, interrupting Lofty from his thoughts; both he and Dervla were soaked, the latter of who was attempting to shake herself dry, much to Dylan’s dismay

“It’s alright, I wanted to” Lofty replied “Besides I’m nearly finished” he said, which was true, all he had left to do now were the pans and putting everything away.

“Well, thank you” Dylan said “I’ll just go and have a shower quickly” he added, something which Lofty himself was just about to suggest that he do “Oh, and Dervla made a new friend… that poor Yorkshire terrier” he said, shaking his head as he headed over to the bathroom, leaving an innocent looking Dervla, and confused Lofty in his wake.

Lofty soon finished his task, and went to join Dylan who was already sat in the other room, in a pair of pyjamas no less. Instead of going to sit back down in his own seat though, he went over and sat next to Dylan, who only looked at him briefly before wrapping his arm around Lofty’s shoulder, allowing him to settle against Dylan’s chest.

“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you something” Dylan said

“What’s that?” Lofty asked, finding the sound of Dylan’s heart beating comforting.

“Why weren’t you… how shall I put this full of Christmas cheer, this year” Dylan asked him, and really Lofty had seen this one coming, had been expecting Dylan to ask for hours now.

“I’m not sure, really” he confessed “I don’t have a lot of family, and the others have all got plans of their own” he continued on.

“Oh, well…” Dylan began “You could always come back round here after work” he suggested “I mean there won’t be a lot in the way of Christmas dinner, not after a twelve hour shift, but the company would be nice”

“Thank you” Lofty said, looking up at Dylan, he thought for a second about kissing him, but then decided perhaps that was just a bit too much too soon “Oh, I got you something by the way” he said, getting up, and grabbing his bag.

“You really didn’t have to” Dylan tried to argue, sitting on the edge of his seat now.

“No, I wanted to” Lofty said, handing him the envelope with Dylan’s name scrawled on it.

“You got me tickets to Les Mis?” Dylan asked in awe, as he pulled them out. “This is….” He began to say, and the next thing Lofty knew Dylan was pulling him towards him in a long, lingering kiss “Thank you” he said, after a few moments once the two of them had pulled apart and managed to get their breath back.

“You’re welcome,” Lofty replied, not quite believing what had just happened. “You know I’m glad I gave them to you now, rather than at the hospital” he said, smiling

“Yeah, so am I” Dylan agreed, returning the smile. “We should however, probably go to bed” he suggested. And really he did have a point; it was only a few hours before they would have to get up again and back into work.

“Yeah, good idea” Lofty agreed, putting the pillows to one end of the settee for his head, causing a look of confusion from Dylan.

“Um, you know I meant go to bed, as in both of us sleeping in my bed” Dylan said, and this time it was Lofty’s turn to look at him perplexed “What, like this is the first time we’ve shared a bed?” he asked, once he noticed the look of his face. And really, Dylan did have a point, Lofty thought to himself, those couple of weeks when he had stayed with him, the two of them had shared Lofty’s bed, though that was before Lofty had realised he had started thinking of Dylan as more than a friend

“OK, yeah” he replied “I don’t have any clothes to sleep in though” he pointed out; it would be a bit much to sleep in just his underwear when things between the two of them were still new.

“You can borrow some of mine” Dylan replied, “Come on” and much to Lofty’s surprise, took his hand and led him over to the bedroom. It was small of course, with only just enough space for the double bed and space to walk around it. The wardrobe was in fact, along the wall up by the ceiling, which Dylan had to stand on the bed to reach “Here” he said, handing Lofty a pair of purple of pyjamas as he stepped down.

“Thanks” Lofty replied, looking around, not entirely sure where he should get changed

“Go on, you can use the bathroom first, there’s a spare toothbrush in the cabinet” Dylan offered, Lofty thanked him quickly and went to get ready for bed. When he got back, Dylan was attempting to persuade Dervla off the bed.

“I don’t mind if she wants to join us” he said, as he walked back into the room

“Yes, but she has a perfectly good bed of her own, and she knows it” Dylan replied, shaking his head at her “I’ll just be a minute” he added, giving Lofty’s cheek a kiss as he passed.

“Ok” Lofty acknowledged, though he remained stood where he was not sure which side of the bed he should get into. When they shared the bed back at his flat, he had just slept on the right side as usual, never having asked which side Dylan preferred to be on.

“You can have the right side” Dylan offered, “And no I don’t mind” he added before Lofty had the chance to argue.

“Thank you” he said, as he got into the bed. Dervla had already moved over into her own bed before Dylan had got back, so it appeared as though it was her idea to move, rather than his.

The two of them led side by side, until eventually Lofty shifted closer to Dylan, who in turn lifted his arm in order to let him lay pressed up along Dylan’s side, head resting on Dylan’s chest.

“Merry Christmas” Lofty said, looking up at Dylan

“Merry Christmas, Lofty” Dylan replied, kissing him briefly on the lips. And at just gone midnight on Christmas day, the two of them fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.


End file.
